In the classic BattleTech board game, as well as in most other games set in the BattleTech universe, the main gameplay takes place on a mapsheet with hexagonal playing fields. Typically, two mapsheets would be included with every boxed set. Sets with other playing maps were later produced as game supplementals.

The standard mapsheet layout has remained unchanged from the original BattleDroids edition through to the latest editions, though there have been cosmetic changes. The printed size of a standard mapsheet is 22 inches by 18 inches (not 22 by 17 as many rulebooks suggest).[1]

This basic mapsheet, two of which are included in each boxed set, is a standardized size and has an addressing scheme printed on the map in a staggered row and column format. There are fifteen columns, 01XX through 15XX, and there are nominally 17 rows, XX01 through XX17. Additionally there is an unaddressed half hex column on the sides of the mapsheet that make up a "sixteenth column" when multiple mapsheets are tiled. On a standard mapsheet the hex size as originally printed is approximately 1.25 inches and depicts terrain 30 meters (roughly 100 feet) across. As published, BattleTech mapsheets have terrain, including vegetation, hydrologic features and topography marked. The flipside was a blank hex board in earlier editions; such blank playing fields are not considered tournament-legal maps though.[citation needed]

Under standard rules the mapsheet is also referred to as a unit of distance with the range of artillery pieces being originally expressed in terms of the number of mapsheets (or "boards") a given unit could fire[2]. On the AeroTech low altitude map each hex is stated to correspond with a a mapsheet at the ground level[3]. Total Warfare provides rules how maps may (or may not) be placed to form bigger playing fields, and provides that in the absence of actual mapsheets (e.g. when playing on other hex terrain), one "board" translates as 17 hexes for determining range.

Other board games in the BattleTech universe have generally used mapsheets that are printed to the same size hex size as the original mapsheet, even though other games have represented different distances per hex: The mapsheets included with BattleForce originally represented 180m per hex[4] compared to the 30m per hex of standard BattleTech. The BattleForce mapsheet is a double size mapsheet, being exactly twice the width, in hexes, of the standard BattleTech mapsheet, with columns from 01XX to 32XX. Similarly, the mapsheets in the Solaris VII game represent only 7.5m of ground distance, a quarter of the scale of standard BattleTech. Nonetheless, as the hexes are printed to the same size on paper and use the same map symbology the maps can be used interchangeably between these various BattleTech scales. BattleTroops was one notable departure from this printing convention, instead using a layout of points in a triangular (or arguably hexagonal) pattern rather than a hex-grid[5]. The original AeroTech map was another departure, being printed on a half inch hex-grid rather than the one and a quarter inch grid in BattleTech for both an outer space map and a low altitude map.

From 2002 until 2008 the various game supplementals, including map sets, were produced under the "Classic BattleTech" moniker to differentiate them from supplements for the "MechWarrior: Dark Age" brand. Afterwards, the line reverted back to just "BattleTech".

A number of Map Sets and Map Set Compilations were published as supplements for the game, providing additional gaming maps with new hex-based terrain. In Germany, Map Sets 2 through 5 (with translated map markings) were sold as GeoTech I through IV by FanPro.

FASA product #1683, released in 1997. The "Open Terrain #1" map was identical to the "Open Terrain" map previously published in the first Map Set, albeit printed on paper instead of cardboard. German edition published in 1997 as "GeoTech IV".

Besides being a compilation of previously published maps for various Solaris Games Duelling Arenas, for play under either Solaris-style 'Mech Duel Rules or classic BattleTech (board game) rules, the pack includes a sourcebook section detailing the gaming world and some of its stables. Special rules are provided for playing on certain maps.

The first HexPack (occasionally also spelled as two words, "Hex Pack") was released in 2010 and heralded a new style for maps, which were now printed on thick, double-sided gameboard-style cardboard with vinyl covering, with different maps printed on the two sides. In addition, punchout map pieces of various sizes are included to modify the maps as well as a booklet with scenarios and rules expansions for the basic game from Tactical Operations. (The BattleTech 25th Anniversary Introductory Box Set may have been intended to be the first product featuring these improved maps, but its release was delayed until 2011 by other issues.)

In early 2013 Catalyst Game Labs began publishing the MapPack series, PDF editions of previously published maps. Using the original map sheet art, and sized for compatibility with the original printed sheets and newer Hex Packs alike, they are meant as a PDF game aid to be printed out as required. Besides six individual maps, the MapPack Flatlands Terrain Set was published that combined those six maps for a lower price. Three months later five more maps and the MapPack Hill Terrain Set (including the five new maps and the Desert Hills map that had already been part of the previous set) were published.

Beyond the boxed sets and dedicated map packs, some other individual products include boardgame map sheets with hexes. Beyond these it should be noted that some products like the Turning Points series typically include maps such as individual planetary maps for the worlds featured.

The Luthien (scenario pack) from 1993 included a loose double-sided map. One side depicted part of Imperial City, the other Kado-guchi Valley. The latter was the site of a large battle and is meant for playing on a different scale akin to BattleForce.

FASA had another successful hex-based wargame, Renegade Legion, that used similar maps to BattleTech to the point where the first map sets were advertised as supplementals for both game lines simultaneously, in the fashion of a shared product. Conversely, some Renegade Legion products contain mapsheets that were never officially published for BattleTech, but can be used for BattleTech nonetheless.

German BattleTech licensee FanPro (who would later also be the game's english-language publisher for a time) reproduced the Map Sets 2 through 5 and sold them as GeoTech I through IV between 1993 and 1997. A first, unnumbered GeoTech set is said to have been published in 1990 containing a (German) BattleTech rulebook and the River Valley, Desert Hills and Industrial maps, i.e. roughly equivalent to Map Set 1.[citation needed]

German BattleTech licensee Ulisses Spiele published a range of map sets ("BattleTech Kartensets") in 2014, both as a physical product and as a downloadable PDF. The physical maps are thick cardboard maps akin to those from the latest boxed sets and Hex Packs, with one of the classic game maps printed on either side. The maps retained their english names, but the markings on the maps are in German. Unlike the Hex Packs they feature no additional content beyond a single map piece each. The maps are:

In 2017 Ulisses Spiele released a new, original BattleTech Starterbox boxed set (not to be confused with the previous "Einsteigerbox"). It contains two all-new mapsheets in the new thick cardboard style of the HexPacks and Kartensets that were designed specifically for this product, labelled "Mine" and "Country Side 3":